Delany was last seen in the company of Urban Meyer, Brady Hoke, and Bo Pelini who were taking him to the "lake" for a "swim". Alvarez will be providing the alibi.

About all that would really happen is some non revenue sports would feel the pinch or get the axe since the football program would have less cash to funnel over to them. Every B1G football program makes money/breaks even, so they'd be fine. Same with most of the basketball programs and some of the hockey programs.

/who am I kidding about killing Delane, as a conference that kind of shiat gets contracted out to Dantonio

Look, I went to Michigan because of the school's academic qualifications. Period. If I wanted to go to a school just for football, I would have headed south and done the tomahawk chop or gator chomp or whatever other asinine thing they do down in SEC country (yeah, I know, FSU is not SEC). That being said...

Delany is kidding himself if he thinks the alumni base would let any of the B1G schools drop athletics. There's just too much money involved. For every person like me who goes to the school for the "right" reasons, there are a dozen others who go for the "wrong" reasons. Same thing goes for the job market. I've been hired because I went to a good school, but let's face it, a LOT of potential employers out there know my school because of the football program. Our academic reputation, for better or worse, has benefited greatly from people hearing about our jocks first.

ha-ha-guy:Delany was last seen in the company of Urban Meyer, Brady Hoke, and Bo Pelini who were taking him to the "lake" for a "swim". Alvarez will be providing the alibi.

About all that would really happen is some non revenue sports would feel the pinch or get the axe since the football program would have less cash to funnel over to them. Every B1G football program makes money/breaks even, so they'd be fine. Same with most of the basketball programs and some of the hockey programs.

/who am I kidding about killing Delane, as a conference that kind of shiat gets contracted out to Dantonio

Speaker2Animals:could force the schools of the Big Ten to de-emphasize athletics as the Ivy League's schools did decades ago.

Wow -- and then they would have to become actual, you know, places of learning? WTF is this world coming to?

The academics of the B1G schools is better than any other conference in the country outside of the IVY. That is the major reason Maryland is joining them.

(I know MD is broke and the move brings a lot of money, but MD wouldn't make the move if it didn't benefit academically from it and we would move because of the academics even if we were flushed with cash. Our president came from the B1G and knows about the academic benefits.)

That means those areas boast more cable subscribers who, Big Ten leaders hope, will soon have to pay more than $1 a month to their cable or satellite provider for the Big Ten Network -- whether they actually want that programming or not.

skrame:That means those areas boast more cable subscribers who, Big Ten leaders hope, will soon have to pay more than $1 a month to their cable or satellite provider for the Big Ten Network -- whether they actually want that programming or not.

This is bullshiat. And that's all I have to say about that.

it might be bullshiat, but it's the entire reason maryland and rutgers were added to the conference. and if you're upset about that dollar, you're going to be really pissed when you learn that espn (and that's just espn, not espn2, espnu, or the ocho) is costing you over $5 a month on your basic cable bill.

As an LSU alum I am all for this and I hope it progresses throughout the entire university system, including the SEC. Football is fun, but that is not why people should be proud of their school. This would remove the local yokels who chear for a team just because they live near it. Less people wearing Bama gear when they don't have a football team to chear for can only be a good thing.

balfourk:As an LSU alum I am all for this and I hope it progresses throughout the entire university system, including the SEC. Football is fun, but that is not why people should be proud of their school. This would remove the local yokels who chear for a team just because they live near it. Less people wearing Bama gear when they don't have a football team to chear for can only be a good thing.

twomutts:Look, I went to Michigan because of the school's academic qualifications. Period. If I wanted to go to a school just for football, I would have headed south and done the tomahawk chop or gator chomp or whatever other asinine thing they do down in SEC country (yeah, I know, FSU is not SEC). That being said...

Delany is kidding himself if he thinks the alumni base would let any of the B1G schools drop athletics. There's just too much money involved. For every person like me who goes to the school for the "right" reasons, there are a dozen others who go for the "wrong" reasons. Same thing goes for the job market. I've been hired because I went to a good school, but let's face it, a LOT of potential employers out there know my school because of the football program. Our academic reputation, for better or worse, has benefited greatly from people hearing about our jocks first.

Sports do play a major role in PR and recruiting. I seem to recall an article talking about there being a significant jump in admissions when schools sports teams make it into major bowls/championships. Especially non-perennial powerhouses. Admittedly, I never heard of Gonzaga until they started making tourney appearances constantly about a decade ago.

A Fark Handle:skrame: That means those areas boast more cable subscribers who, Big Ten leaders hope, will soon have to pay more than $1 a month to their cable or satellite provider for the Big Ten Network -- whether they actually want that programming or not.

This is bullshiat. And that's all I have to say about that.

it might be bullshiat, but it's the entire reason maryland and rutgers were added to the conference. and if you're upset about that dollar, you're going to be really pissed when you learn that espn (and that's just espn, not espn2, espnu, or the ocho) is costing you over $5 a month on your basic cable bill.

I know it is a reference/joke from Dodgeball, but I really hope the next network expansion is called this even though it wouldn't be the 8th expansion (it may be close with classic, news, spanish espn,...).

Hyjamon:I know (The Ocho) is a reference/joke from Dodgeball, but I really hope the next network expansion is called this even though it wouldn't be the 8th expansion (it may be close with classic, news, spanish espn,...).

I actually recall a quip somewhere that when they launched ESPNU (or one of the other recent spin-off networks), it actually WAS "The Ocho". I'll see if I can dig up a reference.

balfourk:As an LSU alum I am all for this and I hope it progresses throughout the entire university system, including the SEC. Football is fun, but that is not why people should be proud of their school. This would remove the local yokels who chear for a team just because they live near it. Less people wearing Bama gear when they don't have a football team to chear for can only be a good thing.

Do the spell cheer differently at LSU? Or do they just not care at SEC schools because football?

Deneb81:balfourk: As an LSU alum I am all for this and I hope it progresses throughout the entire university system, including the SEC. Football is fun, but that is not why people should be proud of their school. This would remove the local yokels who chear for a team just because they live near it. Less people wearing Bama gear when they don't have a football team to chear for can only be a good thing.

Do the spell cheer differently at LSU? Or do they just not care at SEC schools because football?

/come on - after that post I someone HAD to snark you.

Ha! Damned iPhone added a mystery i and I didn't preview. MD may have taught me spelling but apparently failed at teaching me editing...

TheManofPA:To be fair, Mount Union would have to only play their backups against Northwestern most years.

You're thinking of Indiana and Minnesota. Northwestern makes up for their not so great athleticism with smart play and normally running a fairly complex system. If you sleep on them, they make you pay. I never like playing Northwestern during years when they have a senior QB and the entire system is installed/run well. Even if you win, it is uncomfortably close most of the game.

PoochUMD:Speaker2Animals: could force the schools of the Big Ten to de-emphasize athletics as the Ivy League's schools did decades ago.

Wow -- and then they would have to become actual, you know, places of learning? WTF is this world coming to?

The academics of the B1G schools is better than any other conference in the country outside of the IVY. That is the major reason Maryland is joining them.

(I know MD is broke and the move brings a lot of money, but MD wouldn't make the move if it didn't benefit academically from it and we would move because of the academics even if we were flushed with cash. Our president came from the B1G and knows about the academic benefits.)

UND can keep with that academics line all they want, but no one is buying that that played any part if that decision.

Of course, nothing negative could come from the prospect of schools being forced to pay student-athletes. Surely schools wouldn't reduce the number of scholarships offered, or eliminate walk-on spots, and there wouldn't be any incentive to reduce the number of sports offered on a varsity level b/c of this lawsuit. Who are the S-A's most likely to be negatively affected? Women athletes at most schools, now if you are UConn, Tennessee, Baylor of one of the schools with an elite woman's basketball program, certainly you would keep that program, but if you are Clemson, Georgia Tech, or some school which has no tradition in women's basketball and certainly do not add to the AD revenue, your arse is endangered to say the least.

twomutts:Delany is kidding himself if he thinks the alumni base would let any of the B1G schools drop athletics. There's just too much money involved.

There is money in football, in other sports, not so much........even at kentucky who has a shiatty football program and a good basketball program the football team makes more, most sports lose money and would not exist without football.

I could easily see this ruling basically force every school to drop a lot of programs and just keep a couple along with womens equivalent.

jpo2269:Of course, nothing negative could come from the prospect of schools being forced to pay student-athletes. Surely schools wouldn't reduce the number of scholarships offered, or eliminate walk-on spots, and there wouldn't be any incentive to reduce the number of sports offered on a varsity level b/c of this lawsuit. Who are the S-A's most likely to be negatively affected? Women athletes at most schools, now if you are UConn, Tennessee, Baylor of one of the schools with an elite woman's basketball program, certainly you would keep that program, but if you are Clemson, Georgia Tech, or some school which has no tradition in women's basketball and certainly do not add to the AD revenue, your arse is endangered to say the least.

Why should male athletes be exploited to pay the bills for female athletes?

Cybernetic:"Big Ten Commissioner" (or is that "B1G Commissioner") has to be one of the great make-work, do-nothing jobs of all time. Delaney makes over $1 million a year to do... what, exactly?

/Substitute any other major college athletic conference for "Big Ten"//Nice work if you can get it.///Slashies!!!

Aside from building a model conference television network that cut out the low-balling World Wide leader which, thereby setting in motion the greatest money grab in the history of college sports and to the annihilation of two conferences, the near destruction of a third, and possibly a fourth, Jim Delany has never done anything.

The growing geographic footprint of football conferences can't be helping much in that regard ... can't we just split football from everything else, and have local conferences? I mean, why make the Boise State soccer team go to God-knows-where just because the football team might make an extra couple million a year?

A non-football conference with UVA, VA Tech, Maryland, George Mason, VCU, Richmond, Georgetown, and George Washington would be pretty solid IMO and save on the travel budget for the non-revenue sports. Schedule patsies from among Mount St. Mary's, Navy (not sure if they'd belong in the "upper" conference), UMES, Towson, American, Howard, Longwood, VMI ... you get the point. Why do you need to import teams from 1500 miles away for the non-conference games?

The UMD Traitorpins bailed on the ACC for $$$ only.

The ACC has UVA, Duke, North Carolina, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, Boston College, and Miami all above Maryland (7). Notre Dame and Syracuse are also above Maryland in the US News rankings and will be joining the ACC.

jpo2269:Of course, nothing negative could come from the prospect of schools being forced to pay student-athletes. Surely schools wouldn't reduce the number of scholarships offered, or eliminate walk-on spots, and there wouldn't be any incentive to reduce the number of sports offered on a varsity level b/c of this lawsuit. Who are the S-A's most likely to be negatively affected? Women athletes at most schools, now if you are UConn, Tennessee, Baylor of one of the schools with an elite woman's basketball program, certainly you would keep that program, but if you are Clemson, Georgia Tech, or some school which has no tradition in women's basketball and certainly do not add to the AD revenue, your arse is endangered to say the least.

Actually, the woman's sports would be the most protected due to Title IX requiements. Fringe men's sports like wrestling and Gymnastics would finally be killed off if pay for play were to happen. I'd even expect to see sports like baseball, ice hockey and lacrosse take a hit.

2 sides of the coin here. 1) Many of the players are compensated for their efforts in the form of a full scholarship to an institute of higher learning, many of them flagship state programs or well respected private institututions. You would have to be very foolish not to take advantage of that opportunity (which sadly, many players are). 2) The amount that the players are compensated vs the amount of revenue generated by their activity is orders of magnitude lower than they would be paid at the professional level. It particularly bothers me that coaches at the NCAA level make millions of dollars while the players are only getting room bored and tuition.

Ayatollah of Rock-n-Rolla:Actually, the woman's sports would be the most protected due to Title IX requiements. Fringe men's sports like wrestling and Gymnastics would finally be killed off if pay for play were to happen. I'd even expect to see sports like baseball, ice hockey and lacrosse take a hit.

Could colleges argue that Title IX no longer applies should pay for play come to be? If the players are getting paid a salary, wouldn't that make them employees of the university? The only equality issue would be that schools would have to let women be on the team if they fit the performance criteria. Especially if schools started to charge tuition to athletes who would at that point be getting half of the sports revenue. Why offer scholarships when the athletes can afford to pay tuition and you'd like to get some of that money back from them? No scholarship, no Title IX. At that point, almost all other sports would become club sports rather than varsity.

EngineerAU:Could colleges argue that Title IX no longer applies should pay for play come to be? If the players are getting paid a salary, wouldn't that make them employees of the university? The only equality issue would be that schools would have to let women be on the team if they fit the performance criteria. Especially if schools started to charge tuition to athletes who would at that point be getting half of the sports revenue. Why offer scholarships when the athletes can afford to pay tuition and you'd like to get some of that money back from them? No scholarship, no Title IX. At that point, almost all other sports would become club sports rather than varsity.

Pay to play was the wrong way to put it, it would be more like a stipend. Many proposals base your stipend on your sport (another titleIX concern no doubt). Scholarships are still included, thus, Title IX still rules. I'll guess you are an Auburn guy, so you may know the SEC rule that states you have to have 2 more women's sports than men's sports. That is why you have an equestrian squad and Bama and UT have Crew programs. Those aren't going anywhere unless men's sports get cut, and if football and basketball players are getting an extra 300 bucks a month stipend, you can bet other sports will get cut

If it's just a relatively small stipend, then true, they'd still have to offer scholarships and would still have to go by Title IX. But the lawsuit wants 50% of the revenue for athletes. If that actually happened, some schools might have enough to make their revenue sports into de facto minor leagues. Of course I haven't even done back of the napkin calculations and I'm sure it wouldn't work out for most teams... for those it would work out for... it'd be interesting to see what would happen.

While I enjoyed attending many different sporting events while in school (yes, Auburn), I know most of them wouldn't be missed by more than a few people. Auburn has won a large number of national championships in swimming & diving but I'm willing to bet less than 5% of students and even less alumni have ever attended a meet.